Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The matter raised by Senator Maria Byrne is a fantastic idea. Do people have to live in Limerick to get a kit from a library there or could anyone else get one? What she has sought is that the kits would be rolled out to the rest of the country. It is a super initiative. I will find out more information and come back to the Senator with a response on the expansion of the programme.

Senator Maria Byrne also spoke about the welcome business supports, in particular from an energy perspective. We listened to coffee shop owners and petrol station owners talk about their bills quadrupling and their ESB bills being €10,000 and €25,000 for a month, which is just not sustainable. The 40% grant towards energy bills is very welcome. Given that the Revenue Commissioners are the people who will administer and monitor the supports, if their offices are not open it will be very difficult for businesses. I will follow up on the matter again. To answer the Senator's question, I did not even get an acknowledgement to the letter I sent a number of weeks ago, which should not surprise us at all.

Senator Seery Kearney asked for a debate on the report from the Mental Health Commission yesterday. In light of the very disturbing statistics that were reported in it and the visuals evident in the "Panorama" programme last night, she is probably right to say that just because we think it is not happening here does not mean that is the case. We have witnessed a number of very disturbing reports from disability facilities and congregated settings run by the State in the past that were not up to scratch. I will arrange that debate as soon as I can.

Senators Burke and Kyne both mentioned the Inland Fisheries Ireland report, which has been with the Department and also the board for some months. They asked for a debate on the report. I will organise that as soon as I can. I was also asked to contact the Minister for Justice with regard to the security contracts at courthouses that have been in place for many years.